HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently highlighted initiatives in Atlanta, Louisville, and Milwaukee that are expanding homeownership opportunities for low- to moderate-income families. Despite the trend of LMI residents being priced out by for-profit institutional investors who purchase and renovate housing units, several local nonprofits are counteracting these practices and preserving affordable housing opportunities in their communities.
The Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP) operates a loan fund to acquire, renovate, and preserve affordable single-family and multifamily units while also providing down payment assistance to qualifying homebuyers. ANDP aims to reduce the wealth gap between Black and White households, especially in neighborhoods hit hard by the 2008 foreclosure crisis.
Louisville, Kentucky’s Housing Partnership Inc. (HPI) maintains a pool of rehabilitated housing and prepares residents for homeownership through a lease-to-purchase program. HPI holds a mutually agreed-upon sales price of leased homes to purchase until families have completed homebuyer education courses and are financially stable.
A 2022 Wisconsin Policy Forum study compared homeownership inequities among 11 U.S. cities and found that Milwaukee had the largest racial disparity in homeownership. Acts Housing is a nonprofit housing organization working to reverse these trends in Milwaukee. In the summer of 2022, Acts Housing launched a homeowner acquisition fund with the goal of purchasing 100 single-family homes and duplexes per year and reselling them to LMI households for $90,000 to $140,000. Acts Housing has already received funding from several philanthropic organizations, banks, and state and county-level entities.